Traditional Owner
My name is Tom Simpson and I’m a member of a local Indigenous tribe whose ancestors lived within the rainforest. The generations that came before me not only survived through subsistence agriculture, hunting and gathering and low-impact harvesting but also did this in a way that protected the forest by allowing it to replenish and rejuvenate and by understanding and respecting it as being the basis of life itself. The rainforest provides the Indigenous people within the Nakka Nakka community with a link to their ancestry and heritage and allows us to continue the rituals and traditions of our culture.
In most regions where tropical rainforests are found they where and, in the case of areas like the Amazon, still continue to be inhabited by Indigenous populations. These populations survive by living off and in harmony with the surrounding flora and fauna. In Australia, rainforests play a significant role in Indigenous culture as it provides a direct link with ancestry, past traditions and practices. Nowadays, Indigenous communities continue to acknowledge the importance of these areas by teaching new Indigenous and White generations ways of benefiting from the land without depleting its resources or disrupting the interactions between the many ecosystems or detracting from the rainforests biodiversity and sustainability.
(Earth Observatory, 2007)
Persuading the local Council to prevent the deforestation of the Nakka Nakka rainforest will enable future generations to appreciate and understand the importance of the area in relation to Indigenous culture and the important role that this precious and unique landscape plays as an environmental treasure.
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